My husband suggested we try a place he’s been to a couple times when he was growing up on the corner of Kingsway and Rupert called the Chili Pepper House. I was a little surprised that this place was a “Indian Styled Chinese Cuisine” and intrigued.
When you walk in, it’s your typical asian dive, a small corner shop that functions well but could use some renovation. The majority of the customers at the time of our were either Chinese or East Indian, which was really cool.
I asked my husband whether he had any recommendations, but he didn’t really remember what his parents used to get, so we decided to try anything that looked interesting.
Our appetizer was the Chicken Dumplings in Spicy Garlic Sauce ($5.25). I didn’t really enjoy these, I felt they were ones you could buy from T&T and make them yourself. At one point, I was wondering whether they even had chicken in them because they tasted strangely like the vegetarian dumplings I get often from T&T. The sauce was neither spicy or garlic flavoured. It was more of a sweet sauce with very little flavour but very thick in consistency.
The next dish was the Crispy Beef (Sweet & Spicy – $12.25). The Crispy Beef had the same kind of sauce that was on our dumplings, but it had a bit more spice to it. The crispy beef was basically lightly breaded deep fried slices of beef with some red peppers, green peppers and onions. I thought this dish was okay, but a bit bland.
Our last dish was Manchurian Chicken Chow Mein ($8.75). This dish definitely saved the entire meal. It was spicy (not too spicy) and had a lot of flavour to it. It had bits and pieces of chicken and some julienne vegetables tossed together with chow mein noodles.
I think I wouldn’t mind trying this place again, but next time with some recommendations because I didn’t really like the meal we had. The service was fine, they came to refill our glasses with water every so often and were prompt in taking our order and bill.
I always believe that restaurants deserve a second chance (unless the service was completely despicable!) Do any of you guys have suggestions as to what I should try next time I go there?
Food: 
I found the food to be very bland and greasy. The only saviour of the night was the Manchurian Chicken Chow Mein – which was decently proportioned and flavourful.
Ambiance:
This place is your typical asian dive.
Value:
I find that some of the items on the menu are a bit expensive for what it is. I could think of many other places that can get you more food for the same amount of money.
Service: 
The service was good, we were seated promptly, our water glasses were always full and our food came out fairly quick.
OVERALL: 
